Social Media

Social Media

Social media marketing has become expected of all businesses, including small businesses. Most consumers look to websites and social media sites to learn more and to keep in touch. That is why it is essential to establish your presence online. A well-executed social media plan will keep you engaged with your patients/clients, give you an outlet for customer service, generate new business, and enhance your word of mouth!

Facebook is the most popular online social networking service that allows users to exchange messages, post status updates and photos, share videos, join common-interest user groups, etc. Since this is the most popular site, we highly suggest creating a business page and is a great way to build a community presence. This would be a great site to give skin care tips, educational posts, share Jan Marini posts, set up events, etc. This is a great site to showcase you as an expert.

Getting started on Facebook

Create a Facebook page for your business.

Claim a username for your page so customers can easily find you at Facebook.com/YourBusiness instead of Facebook.com/pages/you/203948203957. (Note: Once set, your username cannot be changed — so pick wisely!)

Upload a profile image that will still be “readable” in a tiny thumbnail form around the site. Logos or brand stamps work well and allow users to easily identify your content throughout the site.

Upload a cover image that expands beyond a logo to visually represent your brand. This is the largest piece of real estate you will own on the site and your best opportunity to establish a tone for the profile.

Ensure all applicable contact and “About” information is completed on the profile, and ensure that the most applicable “Category” is chosen.

Use your page’s “Short Description” (Settings > Page Info > Short Description) to display your tagline or a one-sentence summary of why your business is great. This description can be automatically displayed when other people share the link to your page, so make sure it’s a good description.

Authorize page administrators at appropriate access levels so multiple people can contribute content to the page.

If appropriate, upload historical “milestones” for your company, industry or products by backdating posts. Prevent these posts from flooding the news feed of any existing followers by checking the “Hide from news feed” option.

Facebook Business Manger

For more control of your Facebook Business page, you can create a Facebook Business Manager account. This tool lets you control what information employees can access, and there is no need to share login details.

Twitter is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets". This would be a great option to let clients know about last minute openings.

Getting started on Twitter

Create a Twitter account. (There’s no distinction between personal and business accounts here.)

Claim a username for the account, which will also become part of your profile URL (twitter.com/username).

Upload a profile image, header image, and background, ideally all with coordinating color schemes and messaging. Remember that your profile image will display sitewide in a tiny thumbnail, so it should be visually concise.

Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them on a variety of social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr. This is a great way to share visual content from your business such as fun product displays, before and after services, etc.

Getting started on Instagram

Download Instagram from the App Store or from Google Play to a mobile device.

Pinterest is a web and mobile application company that offers a visual discovery, collection, sharing, and storage tool. Users create and share the collections of visual bookmarks (boards). This would be great for sharing creative, visual content and is a great way to categorize different product/service offerings, etc.

Use http://business.pinterest.com/ to sign up as a business page. (If needed, this page also provides a link to convert a formerly “personal” account to a business one.)

Provide contact information and establish a username for your profile.

Upload a 165×165 pixel version of your logo or brand stamp.

Connect other existing social networks to your profile if you want to push out Pinterest activity to those platforms.

In your profile settings, enter your website’s URL. Verify your ownership of the site by uploading an HTML snippet.

Google Plus is a social networking service that also interacts with Google’s enhanced properties like Gmail, +1 button, and YouTube comments. This is a great option if interested in increasing SEO.

Visit google.com/+/business/ and click “Create a Google+ page” in the top-right corner.

Sign in with a Google account that you control, and choose the category that best describes your business.

List your business’s name and website, and confirm whether your content is appropriate for all age groups.

Under “Settings,” add a phone number to the page, and confirm that number via an immediate text message or phone call.

Click on the “Profile” item in the left navigation, then the “About” tab at the top. In the “Links” block below, you should see a “Link website” button. Click this to produce a snippet of code that should be placed on your website in order to link your profile and your website.

Ensure that all location and contact information on this profile stay up-to-date, as Google uses your profile here to provide your address, phone number and more in local search results.

Once you have established the page, go to plus.google.com/dashboard and click “Manage this page,” then “Verify this business” underneath your address. Confirm the business’s mailing address, and a postcard containing a unique PIN will be mailed to you. When the postcard arrives, follow the verification instructions on it to complete the process.